OAKLAND — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland proposed a new $242 million settlement with hundreds of parishioners who claim they were sexually abused for years at the hands of local clergy, a plan that drew immediate pushback from the victims’ attorneys, who say it doesn’t go far enough.
The proposal, filed Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, outlined more than $700,000 in payouts to nearly 350 people who filed lawsuits against the diocese in recent years, all of them accusing church leaders of allowing priests to terrorize congregants for decades. The plan called for about $200 million of that total to come from the diocese itself and a corporation running its schools, and another $42 million to come from its insurers.
In its filing, the diocese’s attorneys said the offer is “fair and equitable because it would compensate survivors of sexual abuse who are creditors and would permit the diocese to continue its ministry to the more than 500,000 faithful within and around the diocese.”
The move drew immediate and vehement pushback from the attorneys of those abuse victims, claiming that the diocese cut them out of negotiations with insurers and afforded them no say in the latest proposal. They also said it failed to adequately compensate abuse victims by stretching out the payments over five years, allowing inflation to chip away at the ultimate total.
A message from this news outlet to the Oakland diocese seeking comment was not immediately returned.
One attorney claimed Oakland Bishop Michael Barber’s actions were “treacherous and oppressive” in proposing the settlement without more input from victims of abuse.
“This is yet another attempt to sideline survivors’ voices and shield the Diocese of Oakland and its insurance carriers from true accountability,” attorney Jeff Anderson said in a statement. “The Bishop is once again relying on a predictable strategy: suppress survivors in an attempt to escape the scrutiny and accountability they deserve.”
Another victim attorney, Rick Simons, blasted the plan as being “about secrecy, not about taking care of survivors.” He called for insurers to significantly increase their payouts, claiming the diocese insured itself for hundreds of millions of dollars in liabilities, not just $42 million as the latest plan proposed.
He also criticized the plan to stretch out the payments over five years, describing how four of his clients who had lawsuits pending against the diocese have since died as the case has dragged on in bankruptcy court. Many others are aging or in deteriorating health, he said, suggesting that the money may not arrive in time for them.
“I don’t think it gets any better result, in trying to cram it down the survivors throats, than the last (proposal) did,” Simons said. “When are they going to get honest with the public, with their parishioners and with the survivors?”
The offer comes as the diocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case continues to drag on in federal court, despite the diocese asking to end the ordeal, citing high attorney costs that had “bled (the church) dry.” Judge William J. Lafferty has since delayed that end date on a week-by-week basis, citing the possibility of a settlement.
The legal saga dates to 2019, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that opened a new window for people to file lawsuits claiming sexual abuse going back decades, before the statute of limitations expired on those cases.
A torrent of lawsuits followed across the state, including about 350 in the East Bay against the Oakland diocese, which comprises Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The claims were haunting, including allegations that churchgoers were groomed, raped and “terrorized” for decades by Catholic priests across the East Bay, according to court records.
In May 2023, the Oakland diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, claiming a need to “stabilize its finances.” Advocates for people claiming to have been abused quickly blasted the move, calling it “disgraceful,” “shameful” and “a tactic to thwart and deter victims” from allowing their cases to be heard by juries.
The bankruptcy filing mirrored moves by Catholic dioceses across the state facing their own wave of sexual abuse lawsuits. Dioceses for San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Sacramento and Fresno also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But last year, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles managed to reach an $880 million settlement with more than 1,350 people who sued church leaders in Southern California.
The latest settlement appears to top the growing list of settlement proposals put forward by the Diocese. An initial offer called for the creation of a $117 million trust, which could grow by tens of millions of dollars with the potential sale of a Livermore property included in the deal. More recently, the diocese proposed a $185 million payout.
Check back for updates to this developing story.
Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.